Vagarli Invasion of Athroux
The Vagarli Invasion of Athroux was an attempt of invading Trisla made by the Vagarli state. It failed to a certain degree, but it left a huge scar upon Athroux and all of Trisla. Background No one quite knows why the Vagarli dwarves invaded. Some say it's greed, or asserting dominance, but the most plausible theory is revenge. The Vagarli dwarves have long hated the Trislan states, who leeched off their people and their land. This was the first Vagarli invasion of such a massive scale, and this can be credited due to Egyan Bergaviul's ambition, as well as the people growing restless of there being no wars for a long time. Instead of launching a great raid upon the Prumites like his fathers and their fathers did, he decided to try something else. Something that hadn't been previously done in Vagarli history: Invading Trisla. The land beyond the strait was inaccessible to the dwarves, yet they yearned for it. It had a more forgiving climate than the highlands of Vagar-Echag, and many vast plains. Many ships were constructed to see the other side, though many never returned. When Bergaviul heard of this, he banned all voyages that involved ships that sailed outside of Vagarli-controlled waters. Bergaviul also ordered every family near a body of water to build at least one boat per three years, which helped greatly in making the Vagarli navy. Many tens -- perhaps even hundreds -- of thousands of rowboats and such were made. Some of those were longships, which were usually made when around 8 families or so got together. Although most of the ships made were simple rowboats, they made a population of boat-makers. Bergaviul used them to make longships and buy those that were already constructed. With this tactic, although Vagar-Echag wasn't doing so well in terms of economy, the Vagarli navy quickly grew from some twenty ships to around seven hundred war ships. With that, the war was launched. Some six hundred war ships arrived at night, taking over several major ports and cities. The main tactic of the Vagarli dwarves was hiding their yak cavalry behind two main infantry lines that formed a triangle-like shape. the 'point' had no filling though, so it appeared as if the dwarven formation had an opening. This wouldn't work on its own, as the enemy would recognize that the opening was probably a lure tactic. Instead, the Vagar dwarfs had many disorganized and weak soldiers as a small filling, who constantly moved around barely in formation. When they enemy would take this bait and enter the opening, the yak cavalry mount their yaks and quickly finish off the enemy by encircling them. Meanwhile, the heavy spearmen would advance forward and switch their formation so that they could essentially double-encircle the two sections of the split army of their enemies. Beginning The war was officially declared by both sides after around three days of the Vagarli invasion. News spread quickly, which made Urkazan severe all ties with Vagar-Echag, as well as some Trislan states stepping up to help Athroux with funding. The Vagarli dwarfs weren't stopped, however, and were able to capture many prisoners, including the King of Athroux and his family. No one knew what happened to them: they were sent back to Vagar-Echag immediately, the trail ends there. Although the dwarfs captured many major points, many still stood. Bwirkoy, the Duke of Athrym and ruler over the bustling city of Castrevona, stood and held fast against the dwarfs. The fortress of Eracas stood as well, but it was barely defensible. The main line of defense in the west, however, was Achrojd: although barely a year old at the start of the war, this fortress is considered impregnable, located on a hill behind a river with a lake just to its north. The Baron of Achrojd was among the prisoners taken by the Vagarli dwarfs, so Achrojd stood leaderless for a few months. It was almost going to be taken, before a man named Willem of Bantrim and his company took over. Captain Willem of Bantrim, otherwise known as 'the Defender of Trisla' to his comrades, led a large group of rebel prisoners. He rebelled against the Vagarli invaders, with the help of a mysterious Pyrene man who was apparently well-known in his lands. Willem revolted in Bantrim, but he was unable to take over the fort. instead, he went to Achrojd, which was leaderless and in need of defense. There, Willem proved himself to be a great leader, repelling many Vagarli assaults decisively. Willem was well-liked by the people, and he declared himself leader of the revolt. Although no noble accepted it, it didn't matter: for now, they needed to survive. Support for Athroux As the war progressed, the Vagarlis made major territorial grabs in the west. They took Ecahrut, a very important town that was among the most fortified in all of Athroux. They did not stop there: Thutusna, a Rytskelian castle, was captured as well. Although this angered the Rytskelian lords, Rytskel's military was weak at the time. The Rytskelians tried to assault Thutusna over and over, yet each time, they failed to retake their city. As this happened, many Trislan states quickly endorsed Athroux. Many provided funding for their army, but it was never delivered: Lleur forbid any foreign caravans travelling through their lands to Athroux, fearing that the Vagarlis might strike them next. Rytskel's western half was weakened, with many of the Trislan convoys being raided by the Vagarlis. The funding stopped after that, since no money could be sent into Athroux. Coastpyre, even though it had a very wide-stretching naval empire, was too busy to do much about Athroux, though did try to fund Willem's force. Duke Bwirkoy's Troops Duke Bwirkoy, a major landholder in Athroux, was preparing his men all through out the war. He did not do anything much for the first two years, which led many of his allies and vassals to question is intention. Two years into the war, however, Bwirkoy finally acted. He had an organized force of knights, men-at-arms, and many other well-equipped soldiers. Although his men didn't have the arquebuses of the west, they did have many cannons. Bwirkoy sent a letter to Willem in Achrojd, who was defending against a Vagarli siege at the time. The letter only said to meet him in Bantrim within two days, or to be declared a traitor to Athroux and hanged. Willem inspired his extremely tired force, buying many fine wines, meats, and cheeses for them to eat. Although this made Willem broke, his army's morale was much better. Willem broke the Vagarli siege and marched to Bantrim. The Siege of Bantrim Lasting only twenty days, the Siege of Bantrim was the most important conflict within the war. Duke Bwirkoy's forces arrived alongside Willem's, and the Duke used Willem's men as a meatshield against the Vagarlis. After starving them out considerably, Bwirkoy hatched a plan on the final night of the siege. He met with Willem in private, before he sent for a party of diplomats to call the Vagarlis out for a peace deal. The Vagarlis, although suspicious, arrived outside with a party of their own, and a large guard. The negotiations were stalled as long as possible, as Willem and a group of spies sneaked into the city and took down the Vagarli flags. They awoke the people and planted Athrouxine flags instead, which inspired the townsfolk to rally up. When the guards discovered the plot, it was already too late: the people marched into the streets as the bells rung, as the confused Vagarli diplomats were encircled by Bwirkoy's force. The townsfolk opened up the front gates forcibly, displaying the heads of Vagarlis on the walls. Bwirkoy's cavalry charged through to the citadel, which was taken swiftly with the help of the common folk. Hlagyan Nebrakhad, a prominent Vagarli who captured several forts in the initial Vagarli campaign, was captured in the siege. Aftermath of the Siege After the siege, the Vagarlis were alarmed. With Bantrim taken, the Athrouxines would clearly have the force to take the other fortresses. Other Athrouxine lords, seeing an opportunity, quickly marched their armies eastward to join with Bwirkoy's. Despot Tzekan of Vanant, seeing an opportunity to expand his influence, quickly declared war on the Vagarlis. The Great Vagarli Wall, barely maintained anymore, was quickly bypassed. Tzekan pledged support for the Athrouxines through a secret deal, and promised to return every bit of land that they owned before back to them. Invasion of the SteppelordsCategory:Event Just as the Athrouxines consolidated their forces and started marching, the Company of the Steppelords landed in western Athroux. Finding out that the elves had conquered their tribes, they needed a new place to go: and so, they opted for Athroux. The Athrouxine lords did not know of this, for the Steppelords were very organised and hid well. First, they captured Ecahrut: the subjects of the Vagarli lords saw them as liberators, and quickly took up arms for the Steppelords. The same was done for Thutusna, except the Steppelords returned the city back to Rytskelian control. With this action, they ensured that other Trislan states would not intervene. The Sacking of Eracas The Steppelords did not stay in one place, though. Under the command of their Hetman, Aemyl, they marched east, towards the Athrouxine city of Eracas. The folk of Athroux still did not know of the Steppelord invasion, for the spy network was weak and no one dared venture into Ecahrut. From Thutusna to Eracas, Aemyl's forces only took around a week to get to their destination. And when they did, they saw the city weak and defenseless: the only defenses it had moving southwards, to the line Bwirkoy's forces were attacking from. The horselords entered the city by force, employing the use of one large cannon that they had acquired. Just as the portcullis was knocked down, the guards all immediately surrendered out of pure fear of these new invaders. Hetman Aemyl left one of his commanders, Velim of Siqubiyyad, to do whatever he wanted with the city. And the city was sacked. All of its riches that it had kept in its vaults for many centuries were stolen, and many of their women were kidnapped. Velim left the city in ruins, not caring for its strategic location much, if at all. Turan, a man of the Company nicknamed 'the Bloody', was responsible for rounding up a large number of the defenders and culling them. With this came the start of the end. The Athrouxines recaptured all the Vagarli-controlled settlements in the south save for just one, while the Vanantians marched through the coast of Vagar-Echag, and fought the Vagarli army End and Aftermath The war officially died down when the Vagarlis stopped invading Athroux. There was a status quo in Athroux, and even though the Vagarlis were pushed back, they were not defeated. They still controlled Taskaer, which proved too much of an obstacle to capture. The Vanantians were struggling to hold on to what few forts they had captured in Vagar-Echag, and their pact with the Athrouxines had ended. From there, the war split into two: the Athrouxine Civil War and the so-called Slow War, which was the war between Vanant and Vagar-Echag. Athroux had split after the death of the King. Some wanted Captain Willem as King, since he had proven himself a capable candidate. Yet others campaigned against him, preferring Duke Bwirkoy or some other candidate. With Eracas gone, a major trade city between Northern Trisla and the shipping ports in east Athroux, the lords of Athroux grew impoverished. All this happened while the Steppelords were invading, who hoped to establish a state of their own. The Vagarli Invasion was the first domino to fall to Trisla's doom.